PM leads 'ETA-death' protest

MADRID Spain -- Tens of thousands of Spaniards have marched through Terrassa in northeast Spain to protest the latest murder linked to the Basque separatist group ETA.

The prime minister Jose Maria Aznar and the leader of the opposition Socialist Party headed the demonstration against the car bombing, in what has become a sombre ritual after each ETA killing.

Town councillor Francisco Cano Consuegra's death is the 22nd killing blamed on the armed group since it called off a 14-month truce in December last year.

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Thursday's attack in the small town of Viladecavalls, two days after both the major political parties signed an anti-terrorism pact, has sparked widespread condemnation.

"Murderers without limits," read Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia's headline.

Thousands of people gathered outside town halls across Spain, dedicating five minutes of silence to the plumber and town councillor who died in hospital of critical injuries sustained in the explosion.

Earlier on Friday Aznar attended Cano Consuegra's funeral in Viladecavalls, where he was the only councillor belonging to the ruling centre-right Popular Party.

The Popular Party and the opposition Socialists are pushing for Spain's smaller political parties to join the anti-ETA pact to advance what officials concede remains a long fight.

"There's one side in favour of democracy and one side in favour of the killers and supporters of the killers," said Alberto Fernandez Diaz, Popular Party president for the Catalonia region where Cano Consuegra died.

"There are no half measures."

ETA has taken 800 lives in its bloody 32-year campaign for an independent Basque state straddling the French and Spanish borders.

Under the pact, the two main parties agreed not to seek political gain from ETA violence and to offer no concessions on Basque sovereignty.

But smaller parties have slammed the accord for excluding moderate Basque nationalists who oppose violence.

The "Accord for Freedom and Against Terrorism" ruled out talks with the Basque Nationalist Party that governs in the semi-autonomous Basque region, until it severs all ties with Euskal Herritarrok, the radical party close to ETA.

Reuters contributed to this report.

ETA blamed for fatal car bombing
December 14, 2000
Police thwart suspected ETA attack
November 24, 2000

Basque Nationalist Party
Euskal Herritarrok
Basque Red Net
Popular Party (in Spanish)
Popular Party of Catalonia (in Spanish)
Spanish Socialist Party (in Spanish)

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